Many thanks to NetGalley, Hodder & Stoughton, and Grand Central Publishing for gifting me a digital ARC of the new thriller by Sarah Bonner. All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 4 stars!

In 2018, Helena is successful and married to Edward. However, she has to deal with his family issues, especially with his mother. She begins receiving notes threatening to reveal her secrets. Four years later, Helena's friend, Thea, begins investigating her murder, determined to prove that it was murder and not an accident. Then she begins receiving notes too.

Told in different timelines and from different POV, this is a twisty tale of domestic suspense. I liked how the author split the book into separate parts, each told in a different POV so that you gathered more depth into the characters. There was quite a bit to keep up with and you'll love to hate some of these characters - especially Helena's mother-in-law! Kept me intrigued to the end!

Helena and Thea are dear friends, so when Thea hears that Helena has died, she wants to investigate it. Told in dual timelines (Helena, 2018 and Thea, 2022), we learn of Helena's marriage to Edward, her fraught relationship with her mother-in-law Geraldine, and her fear of being discovered for influencing the family's inheritance. Helena helps Ella, who Geraldine recently fired, to get a job with Edward. She shares her concerns with Ella.
Later, Thea wants to find Ella, as she believes Ella may have a clue to Helena's death. She finds Jen, who agrees to help Thea get revenge on Edward.
All of this leads to a very twisty plot. Lots of secrets, lies, and revenge - as well as a lot of grifting!
I felt like I knew where some of this was going, but there were a few surprises for me. I enjoyed this quick read.

Secrets, loads of lies and murder make up this tale of sweet revenge! Helena is living her best life until notes threatening to expose her secrets start showing up at her doorstep. We then fast forward to Thea, her best friend who is determined to find out what happened to Helena and why. Let the cat and mouse games begin and all secrets come to the surface.

Loved how invested you are to find the truth and the lengths a best friend will go to for the truth.

3.5 stars rounded up. I found the beginning of the book slow and it was a bit difficult for me to switch between past and present. That said, it all started coming together for me about the halfway point. That's when it starts the real twisty turny part. Crazy good story, even crazier characters. I thoughrouly enjoyed the craziness.
Thanks to netgalley, the publisher and author for the chance to read this advanced copy.

Wow wow wow my head is spinning!

It’s 2018 and Helena is beautiful, successful and happily married to Edward. Unfortunately she has the mother in law from hell. She seems to have the perfect life so why has she been receiving postcards that is threatening to reveal her secrets? What can she possibly have to pay for? The thought that someone else out there knows what she’s done is too horrible to think about. But worse, unless she pays up, they’re going to tell.
In 2022, Thea returns to the U.K. determined to seek revenge for what she believes is the murder of her best friend Helena but the authorities deemed an accident. As Thea begins to search for the truth, she is shocked to receive a note begging her to leave it alone while she still can. But they’ll have to make her, but what she wants now is sweet revenge.

Sarah Bonner has done it again! Her previous book, The Perfect Twin, was a favorite for me last year.

Helena is living the perfect life. She is married and has the perfect house, but when her past secret starts to creep into her life she is left in a bad situation unless she pays up. Four years later, Thea, her best friend, starts to investigate what happened to her Helena. She believes it was no accident and when she starts to receive notes to let it go, she knows she is on to something.

I really enjoyed this book. The plot kept me hooked and the characters, while cringe-worthy at times, were interesting as they pushed the boundaries.

This story focuses on Helena and Thea. One has a secret that she (wrongly) thought know one knew. The other has a friend that has been murdered and she will do anything to find out who did it and why. There were many fragments to this story that had to all come together. It was slow to come together but I still loved this story. It had one of my favorite tropes which is revenge but it was also about redemption. There’s so many stories with similar plot lines and I really enjoyed this one being a bit different than the rest.

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing and Netgalley for this ARC!

This one ended up not being for me. I didn't end up finishing it and read to about 30%.

The story flips between Helena in 2018, when she begins receiving anonymous threatening notes, and her best friend Thea in 2022. Thea is determined to get revenge for her friend's murder.

I can't quite put my finger on why this book didn't work for me. It felt long, and like I was reading and reading and wasn't getting anywhere. The writing was good, and the story was intriguing.

Although I didn't get too far into the book, I found myself not liking Thea's character, so maybe it just didn't hold my attention because I wasn't completely invested in needing to know who killed her.

Again, I can't entirely explain why it wasn't for me, I just couldn't get into it, but I certainly think others would love this book.

This book was a wild ride. Nothing is like it seems. 2018: Helena is hiding a huge secret but someone has found out about it. They are threatening to reveal it all and Helena doesn't know what to do. At the same time she has to contend with her evil mother in law Geraldine.

Fast forward to 2022: Thea is determined to find out what really happened to her best friend.

This story was told in dual timelines and from multiple perspectives. I loved the slow reveal on this book. I won’t give too much away but I will say, I didn't like Helena’s husband Edward. He was so weak and unwilling to stand up to his mother, which was the catalyst for everything that happened.

I really liked this book and would recommend that you read the physical copy so you don't lose track of the characters.

This is a great book filled with twists and turns that will keep you guessing until the last page!!!!!!!!!

Sarah Bonner's sophomore novel HER SWEET REVENGE is the gripping follow up to her debut thriller HER PERFECT TWIN. Written in dual timelines with multiple points of view, the story unfolds in "parts" that build one upon the other. The format is such that it makes it difficult to discuss the plot line without spoilers, however, the synopsis gives an excellent overview of this story. Otherwise, it's important to go into this one blind and experience this sordid tale first-hand.

The first half of HER SWEET REVENGE focuses on Helena's story in 2018. She's happily married to Edward and the owner of a successful business of her own making. Life is good other than Edward's dysfunctional, wealthy family with the proverbial dreaded mother-in-law who revels in interfering in Helena and Edward's lives. Edward's mother had someone else in mine as her future daughter-in-law and takes every opportunity to let Helena know she's second best. As Helena's frustrations with her mother-in-law grow, she has a serious lapse in judgement and does something in secret that changes the course of the family's future. She shares her secrets with her best friend Thea who lives in the UK . . . and with one other person, her new friend who makes a point of commiserating with her. When threatening notes begin appearing, Helena realizes someone knows what she's done, and they're now blackmailing her. She has no choice but to follow the blackmailer's directions to keep Edward and his family from learning the truth. When tragedy strikes, Thea and readers are charged with figuring out who's responsible.

The second half of the book concentrates on Helena's best friend Thea in 2022 as she promises to get to the bottom of what happened to Helena and seek justice. She devises a plan she shares only with her new friend Jenn and begins the process of doling out some sweet revenge. When Thea begins receiving the same threatening notes that Helena had received, she knows she's made someone very nervous. It now appears Thea's life is in danger. The story that unfolds is twisted, tense and quite convoluted.

HER SWEET REVENGE is an intriguing story of family drama and the devastating effects of dark secrets and their ability to destroy lives. It's also a story of trust or the lack thereof, greed and revenge. Bonner's choice to render the story in "parts" via dual timelines and multiple points of view is highly effective in allowing readers the opportunity to get inside both main characters' heads and establish empathy for them even when they cross a line. The plot line's extremely complex with twists and turns that lead to mini shockers while racing towards an explosive climax that may surprise some readers. While I was able to figure out where this story was headed early, the ever-increasing pace and ominous tone and warning notes kept me burning through pages to see how it would all play out. Bonner does a fantastic job of characterizations, adding to the overall believability of the mind-boggling events as they unfold. I suspect readers will be split over the surprising ending, but I applaud the author's decision to leave the door cracked open when it comes to one of the main players instead of going with a cut and dried style ending.

HER SWEET REVENGE is a gritty, gripping, intense domestic thriller with a few unique twists. Fans of domestic style thrillers with revenge themes will enjoy this one. Highly recommended to readers who love clever, twisted, addictive suspense thrillers.

Thank you @grandcentralpub @netgalley for a copy of this revenge thriller. This book starts with Helena's POV and how she is in a marriage where her MIL is causing a big rift. The book then moves to Ella, who befriends Helena's POV and then to Thea. Without giving anything away, this book kept me guessing. There's so many twists and turns and such a perfect revenge book.

Helena is a successful businesswoman and happily married to Edward. Her life would be just about perfect if it weren’t for the pesky secret she’s hiding – and if her mother-in-law wasn’t the proverbial monster-in-law from hell. When Helena dies under suspicious circumstances, it’s labeled a tragic accident. But Helena’s best friend Thea isn’t buying that explanation. She’s certain Helena was murdered, and she’s determined to not only find out who killed Helena, but to exact revenge as well.

I loved Sarah Bonner’s debut “The Perfect Twin”, so I was really excited to read her second novel, but I’m sorry to say this one didn’t quite live up to its predecessor. Although Bonner’s prose is excellent, the pace is uneven. This first half, which is primarily focused on Helena, is a very slow burn with more character development than action. After Helena’s death, the tempo ratchets up with lots of wild (and rather implausible) twists and turns. I was entertained and would read anything Bonner writes in the future, but in the end this one was just too far-fetched for me. If you love a twisty revenge thriller and don’t mind suspending disbelief, you’ll probably enjoy this book.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for providing me an advance copy of this book.

I was so excited to get approved by NetGalley and the publisher for this latest book by Sarah Bonner since I absolutely loved her first book “Her Perfect Twin”. This one however was just ok. I had a hard time connecting to the characters this go round.

This was quite the page turner in the beginning. I had an idea pretty early on of what was going on, but the writing style was so easy to read so I continued on hoping that something shocking would come along. It moved pretty slow in the middle. Finally, the last few chapters were full of twists and reveals but some of it was too far fetched.

Thank you Grand Central Publishing, NetGalley and Sarah Bonner for an advanced copy of ʜᴇʀ ꜱᴡᴇᴇᴛ ʀᴇᴠᴇɴɢᴇ that comes out September 5, 2023!

Heart pounding thriller that left me on the edge of my seat. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one. Definitely one of the best books this year.

I enjoyed the plot with all the secrets and twists and turns. The ending left me a little unsatisfied, but I still really enjoyed this book.

Thanks to Netgalley and Grand Central Publishing for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Her Sweet Revenge was a very complex story with multiple twists that I don’t even know where to begin to describe it. But the blurb about the book does a good job without giving away the story.

The story unfolds through multiple points of view over multiple timelines. It was a slow build until Helena’s death. And soon after, the pacing and suspense took off with a lot of plot twists that kept me guessing till the end.

There were a number of characters and each of them were well developed. Especially if each of them could draw out the ire in me. In particular, Geraldine was the typical protrayal of the evil mother-in-law from hell. She was aptly nicknamed “Smaug” by Helena. And that was so apropos in my opinion.

The other characters had their own idiosyncracies. And I just loved how author, Bonner fleshed them out to be who each of them were personality-wise. Each of them were distinct and definitely not vanilla.

The novel was on course to be a five star read for me. Unfortunately, the finale just killed any chance of it being so. But the novel still ranks up there with four stars — all things considered.

I received a DRC from Grand Central Publishing through NetGalley. The review herein is completely my own and contains my honest thoughts and opinions.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and or the author for giving me the chance to read this book.

Two notes. 1 is about death and the other one is about revenge.

What possibilities could go wrong?

Love the interactions between the characters.

This book had potential but for me it didn't live up to it unfortunately. Two timelines, Helena story with her toxic mother in law and the threats being made against her and the story of her friend Thea , who is trying to understand why her friend was murdered. It started slowly and for me kept moving slowly and the twists that came were not my favorite type of twist. I liked her first book better and will continue to read her books 3.5 rounded up